A sideboard in Red Cedar.

This is a sideboard I made, primarily because I could. It is made in Red Cedar, also called Surian. This timber is common all along the Pac rim from Oz to the Phillipines. It is a joy to work and takes a finish beautifully.

One of the greatest things about red cedar is the wide range of colour that can be found in the wood. From almost pure white in the sap wood to a real dark can be had. I use a lot of it….for those reasons. Nice work.

Thanks for the kind comments everyone.When I say “because I could”, I’m referring to the fact that I was able to find and purchase timber with such a beautiful grain. Surian is a timber of the Genus Toona and grows right up this side of the Pac rim, from Australia to the Philippines. Australia has it’s own species, Toona australiis, which was used extensively in early days for furniture, panelling and doors. However, an introduced Lyctid mite has had a devastating effect on it and now it doesn’t grow large enough to allow milling. There are pockets of it left, but these are primarily in World Heritage areas. The Surian is a fairly good substitute though.

What’s the density of this wood? What other wood could you compare the density to? When I first saw the post title, I was thinking Western Red Cedar, which is so soft and I couldn’t imagine an entire case built of it…not that it couldn’t be done though…